The 2022 Toyota Sienta Hybrid is Toyota's latest small MPV that is officially imported by Borneo Motors Singapore. This affordable MPV is also a hybrid MPV, and features Toyota's renowned hybrid system, which combines the petrol engine with an electric motor. As a mini MPV, road and wind noise can be quite present while driving, but its practicality does allow you to have 3 rows of seats. Other features on the car include a shift by wire system, cruise control, a touchscreen infotainment system, and dual powered sliding doors. The Toyota Sienta Hybrid also has very good fuel efficiency.
Quirky and Endearing
Compact MPVs are a rare breed in the market today, offering consumers a typically cost effective way to ferry around six to seven passengers in a vehicle that takes up a small footprint. The format itself tends to put function over form, and this normally translates to rather utilitarian designs as seen with previous generations of the Toyota Sienta, as well as competitors like the Honda Freed.
Despite this, the new Sienta seems to have been given quite a lot of styling thought, making the most out of its utilitarian format to provide consumers with a design that is both quirky and refreshing. Oddly, I feel that the Sienta looks more like a commercial vehicle than before, but the combination of distinctive features and the smart use of plastic cladding around the bodywork make it a rather youthful and ongoing one. Most importantly perhaps, the design feels endearing.
More Coherently Put Together
Compared to the previous generation, the new Sienta Hybrid feels like a car that is more coherently put together, blending the exterior quirkiness with a suitably styled interior. There is a real sense of adventure once you get into the car, thanks to an ample amount of storage areas in the cabin, some of which are as quirky as the exterior styling.
For a young family setting off on a road trip, family picnic, or just a regular outing, I can see how the Sienta Hybrid could be a really fun part of that equation. It's not a great driving car by any means, but it is also impressively unpretentious, which is perhaps why I find it so likeable.
Excellent Fuel Efficiency
As a Toyota hybrid, the Sienta Hybrid benefits from the extremely refined Toyota hybrid system which graces most of the Toyota vehicle lineup. While certain applications tend to yield better results than others, most drivers will find it quite easy to extract good fuel efficiency figures from the Sienta Hybrid, so long as you're not revving the CVT like a private hire driver.
While we haven't extensively tested the Sienta Hybrid's fuel efficiency to the limit, we have tested its stablemates like the Toyota Cross Hybrid to its limit, where we clocked 1,050km on a single 47 litre tank of fuel around Singapore, which was mighty impressive. While the Sienta Hybrid is unlikely to achieve such a distance due to its smaller, 40 litre fuel tank, we'd expect a very similar efficiency reading. Perfect for the budget conscious ones among us.
Who Will it Appeal to?
As one of the most affordable ways to carry the most amount of people in a car, it is not a secret that the Sienta Hybrid is going to be one for the budget conscious, as well as those who are driven by value. Affordable to purchase, cheap to run, and highly economical. If those criteria are at the top of your priorities list, then the Sienta Hybrid is a must to check out.
